Multi conductor switch for developing patch fields and test boards

ABSTRACT

AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH OR JACK ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN DEVELOPING PATCH FIELDS AND HAVING MULTI-CONDUCTOR TWIN-AXIAL, TWO-PIN POLARIZED CONDUCTORS NORMALLY INTERCONNECTED THROUGH UPPER AND LOWER SELF NORMALLING CONTACT RODS AND PARALLEL BARRELS THE INPUT ENDS OF WHICH ARE SELECTIVELY FORMED OR FITTED TO RECEIVE TWIN-AXIAL TWO-PIN POLARIZED CABLE CONNECTORS OR TWIN-AXIAL CONCENTRIC-TRI-AXIAL CABLE CONNECTORS AND THE OUTPUT ENDS OF WHICH ARE FORMED TO RECEIVE TWIN-AXIAL TWO-PIN POLARIZED PATCH CORD PLUGS. UNIVERSAL COOPERATION TO PROVIDE SELECTIVE ENTRY INTO CONVENTIONAL TWIN-AXIAL CABLED OR TRI-AXIAL (CONCENTRIC MULITCONDUCTOR) CABLED SOURCE AND LOAD EQUIPMENT IS ASSURRED BY PROVIDING TRANSITION TYPE ADAPTOR FOR THE EQUIPMENT CONNECTED BARREL ENDS AND TRANSITION END FITTED PATCH CORDS.

Jan. 30, 1973 T. LEVERICH 3,714,385

C. MULTI-CONDUCTOR SWITCH FOR DEVELOPING PATCH FIELDS AND TEST BOARDS Filed Feb. 23, 1971 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOI CHARLES T. LEVERICH AT INEYS Jan. 30, 1973 c. T. LEVERICH MULTI-CONDUCTOR SWITCH FOR DEVELOPING PATCH FIELDS AND TEST BOARDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 23, 1971 l I I l IIJ EL 4| m 1 I N258 L No No WK 2 ri. H23 NWT: lllll ||L mvmi'ron CHARLES T. LEVERICH BY M M add/ 7 A TOIN'IIXS 30, 1973 c. T. LEVERICH MULTI-CONDUCTOR SWITCH FOR DEVELOPING PATCH FIELDS AND TEST BOARDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 23, 1971 #w/ k m a m I r L NW0)! Wm ca 0mm .umm mm INVENTOR T. LEVERICH CHARLES ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. ZOO-51.1 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrical switch or jack assembly for use in developing patch fields and having multi-conductor twin-axial, two-pin polarized conductors normally interconnected through upper and lower self normalling contact rods, and parallel barrels the input ends of which are selectively formed or fitted to receive twin-axial two-pin polarized cable connectors or twin-axial concentric-tri-axial cable connectors and the output ends of which are formed to receive twin-axial two-pin polarized patch cord plugs. Universal cooperation to provide selective entry into conventional twin-axial cabled or tri-axial (concentric multiconductor) cabled source and load equipment is assurred by providing transition type adaptors for the equipment connected barrel ends and transition end fitted patch cords.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years multi-conductor shielded cable has become widely used in connecting source and load equipment in the fields of television, telemetry, telephony, test instrumentation, control, environmental measurement, and other systems employing low level low frequency signals such as transducer or similar voltage measurement systems. In the operation, testing and maintenance of such systems, it is essential to employ patching systems including patch panels, patch cords, parallel networks, attenuators, mating connectors and other accessories to provide complete patch fields and test boards for entering multi-conductor circuits. Depending upon the cable used, there being two principal types generally referred to as twin-axial and tri-axial cables, it is the general practice to provide the cable ends with connectors designed to properly connect the cables to the equipment and to the patching connectors provided for the path fields and test boards. In the case of twin-axial cable, there are tWo approaches employed in providing connectors, one known as the two-pin polarized approach and the other as the twin-axial concentric approach. The concentric approach is also employed in connectors provided for tri-axial cable and allows polarization without the necessity for mechanically rotating and mating the male and female pins.

The present invention provides self-normalling shielded electrical switches for use in the development of such patch fields and test boards for entering multi-conductor cable circuits to effect testing, monitoring, bridging, and re-routing and/or substitution of source and load equipment connected by multi-conductor cable. In such circuits, each of the cables is conventionally constructed to provide three separate and distinct conductor paths, including an outer axially continuous shielding circuit and two inner axially continuous signal conductor circuits and suitable insulation establishing the electrical integrity of each of the circuits. The switching for such cable is customarily mounted on panel boards providing multiple switching stations for the respective connection of a plurality of such multi-conductor cable sets or a panel block adapted to be removably fixed to a suitable support structure to form a switching station. The source equipment and load equipment may take varied forms and the usual purpose of such switches is to provide a suitable switching station for entering the three conductor paths to determine the proper operation of the several circuits, to re-route either or both of the connected pieces of equipment or to substitute alternate source or load equipment upon defective operation of the originally connected equipment. The switch of the present invention accomplishes any and all of these purposes quickly and efiiciently irrespective of the cable used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The switch of the present invention, preferably follows the general form of the switch shown in J. F. Lancaster Pat. 3,360,747. It provides shielding jack barrels carried by a metal bar or plate in side-by-side parallel relation, transverse conductor or shorting means for establishing internally of the switch a normal through circuit between the inner axially continuous signal conductor circuits of the source and load cables and is provided with a balancing resistor for terminating, selectively or simultaneously, the source and load equipment signal conductor circuitry in proper impedance upon insertion of either the plug or test probe of a twin-axial patch cord or a dummy plug in the jack ends of the barrels. It further is adapted upon insertion of the test probe fitted patch cord selectively in one of the jack ends of the barrels to maintain the normal through circuitry and pick up the transmitted signals for the purpose of testing, monitoring and bridging.

It, accordingly, is a primary object of the present invention to provide a shielded multi-conductor switch for patching and probing the signal circuitry of twin-axial, twin-axial concentric and tri-axial cable connected source and load equipment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a switch according to the previous object wherein the patching terminals are designed to cooperate with patch cords composed of twin-axial cable fitted at one end with twinaxial plugs or probes and selectively fitted at the other end with twin-axial, two-pin connectors or concentric connectors adapting the switch to patch from twin-axial concentric or tri-axial cable connected source and load equipment to twin-axial, twin-axial concentric or tri-axial connected substitute source and load equipment.

A further object of the present invention is to provide for use with the switch of the preceding object an adapter having connector terminals at one end designed to cooperate with the twin-axial cable connectors of the switch and connector terminals at the other end designed to cooperate with the conventional connector fittings of either twin-axial concentric or tri-axial cable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Still other objects will appear from the following description and appended claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred form of switch of the present invention fitted with twin-axial cable connectors and twin-axial patch cord receptacles mounted on a section of panel board or a panel board block with the customary metallic box-like shielding around the cable ends broken away to show the switch details and showing a typical twin-axial patch cord probe and twinaxial patch cord plug aligned at the left for insertion into the switch barrels;

FIG. 2 is a right end view of the switch of FIG. 1 with the metallic box-like shield removed;

FIG. 3 is a left end view of the switch of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view of a twin-axial patch cord fitted at its opposite ends with twin-axial patch cord plugs;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the patch cord plugs employed in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6 through 9 are respective schematic circuit diagrams illustrating the circuit variations obtainable using the switch of FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 10 is a view of a multi-conductor patch cord fitted at one end with a twin-axial test probe and at its opposite end with a polarized 'Polon connector adapted forglconnection to either twin-axial concentric or tri-axial ca e;

FIG. 11 is a left end view of FIG. 10 showing the contact construction of the typical twin-axial test probe provided for use with this invention;

FIG. 12 is a view of a multi-conductor patch cord fitted at one end with a twin-axial test probe and at its opposite end with a twin-axial patch cord plug;

FIG. 13 is a view of a multi-conductor patch cord fitted at one end with a twin-axial test probe and at its opposite end with a twin-axial concentric connector;

FIG. 14 is an end view of the polarized coaxial connector or twin-axial concentric connector employed in FIGS. 10 and 13;

FIG. 15 is a view of a multi-conductor patch cord fitted at its opposite ends with twin-axial test probes;

FIG. 16 is a right end view of a modified switch of the present invention wherein the connector ends of the switch barrels are designed for receiving either a twinaxial concentric or tri-axial connector and the switch omits the internal terminating impedance;

FIG. 17 is an elevation view of a dummy plug for use 'with the switch of FIG. 16 or a switch like that of FIGS. 1 to 3 omitting the internal terminating impedance to terminate the selected source or load circuit and break the normal through circuit to permit alternate equipment to be connected to the other circuit; and

FIG. 18 illustrates a transition adapter composed of a concentric connector at the right end and a twin-axial two-pin connector at its opposite end for use with the switch of FIGS. 1 to 3 to adapt the switch for accommodating twin-axial concentric or tri-axial cabled source and load equipment.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to the drawings wherein the same reference numerals are employed throughout the several figures to designate the same parts, the switch 20 of this embodiment is designed for use with source and load equipment connected to the switch through conventional twin-axial, twin-axial concentric, and tri-axial cable. It comprises a form of normal-through switch composed of a pair of tubular metal jack barrels or shields 21 and 22 extending through and fixedly secured in respective parallel through passages of a common metallic plate or bar 23. Each barrel at its opposite ends 24 and 25 is respectively formed to provide a plug receptacle and a cable connector portion which, when mounted in plate 23, are disposed in adjacent side-by-side spaced parallel relation at opposite sides of plate 23. Plate 23 midway between its opposite ends and in vertically spaced relation is provided with tapped through passages 26 adapting plate 23 for removable attachment to the rear face of an insulating panel board or block 27 through securing screws 28. When so assembled, the plug receptacle ends 24 protrude slightly beyond the front face of panel board or block 27 and cable connector portions or ends 25 are spaced a substantial distance rearwardly from the mounting plate 23 beyond upper and lower axially directed passages P formed in the adjacently related barrels 21 and 22 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

The reduced diameter portions 25 of each barrel at its inner and adjacent its juncture with the main barrel body fixedly mounts an insulating body 29 (FIGS. 1 and 2) having a reanwardly extending, reduced radius, semicylindrical protrusion 31 and fixedly mounts respective upper and lower, tubular paired metal conductors 32 and 33. Conductors 32 and 33 are of equal length and are formed respectively with reduced diameter ends forming oppositely directed terminals 34 and 35 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The forwardly directed terminals 34 terminate a substantial distance rearwardly from mounting plate 23 and comprise respective male terminals while the rearwardly directed plug terminals 35 are formed to provide an upper female terminal and lower male terminal terminating in the vertical plane defined by the end face of the semi-cylindrical protrusion 31. This termination plane is located approximately midway of the length of the reduced diameter cable connector portions or ends 25. Reduced diameter cable connector portions or ends 25 are provided with diametrically oppositely directed guide pins 36 (FIGS. 1 and 2) lying in the vertical, longitudinally directed plane defined by the longitudinal axes of the respective upper and lower conductors 32 and 33 and function to angularly orient the axially directed, matingly cooperating, terminals of the twin-axial, two-pin polarized, connectors conventionally provided on the twin-axial cables leading from the source equipment and load equipment (not shown).

The opposite ends 24 (FIG. 3) of the switch barrels 21 and 22 at points angularly spaced from the vertical plane defined by the axes of the paired conductors 32 and 33 are provided with axially directed end opening slots 37 dimensioned to slidingly receive radially protruding, peripherally disposed, guide and orienting pins 38 provided on the patch cord plug 39 and patch cord test probe 41 forming a part of this invention. As will be clear from an inspection of FIGS. 1 and 10 through 14, the test probe plug terminals 42 comprise axially protruding sleeve-like terminals axially slotted at 43 and swaged inwardly to form diametrically spaced, female terminals fixedly disposed in a body of insulating material 44 (FIG. 11) to matingly receive the cooperating axially protuberant, male terminals 34 of conductors 32 and 33. Similar plug terminals 42 are provided in the standard twin-axial patch plugs 39 as will appear from an inspection of FIGS. 4 and 5. The patch plug terminals 42 are, however, inset inwardly from the free ends of plugs 39 to assure a rearwardly protruding cylindrical plug wall portion 45 (FIG. 4) of a length sufficient to receive the protruding end of the insulating body 29 (FIG. 1). This protruding wall portion 45 serves to pick up and shift the self normalling contacts to be presently described out of their normally biased contact with conductors 35 and close oif the upper and lower passages P when patch plugs 39 are fully inserted to plug onto terminals 34 (FIG. 3). This axially protruding wall portion 45 is omitted from the test probes 41 and as a consequence full insertion of a test probe will merely connect terminals 34 to the test probe terminals without actuating the self normalling contacts which will now be described.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, plate 23 inwardly from is opposite ends is provided with vertically spaced aligned ears 46 fixedly mounting respective upper and lower pivot rods 47. Each rod 47 immediately inwardly of its respective mounting ears 46 journals an insulating shorting rod support lever indicated respectively by numerals 48, 49, 51 and 52 (FIGS. 2 and 3). As best seen from an inspection of FIGS. 1 to 3, each of these levers comprises an elongated mounting hub 53 having a laterally centered through notch '54 receiving the coiled body of a biasing spring 55 the ends 56 of which extend forwardly into edges of passages P. In their normally biased position, ends 57 of which extend rearwardly along face opening slots formed in the outer face of a planar body portion 58 (FIG. 3). In addition to biasing body portions 58 of the support levers inwardly through the respective barrel passages P, this biasing spring fixes levers 48, 49, 5-1 and '52 against relative axial movement along their respective pivot rods 47 to position the rearwardly and downwardly directed shorting rod mounting fingers 59 (FIGS. 1 and 3) adjacent the opposed inner delimiting edges of passages P. In their normally biased position, fingers 59 lie inwardly beyond the lateral plane defined by the longitudinal axes of the paired upper and lower conductors 32 and 33 (see FIG. 3) to normally maintain the laterally protruding ends 61 of upper and lower shorting rods 62 (FIGS. 1 and 3) in contacting engagement with the paired upper and lower conductors 32 and 33 (FIGS. 1 and 3). While shorting rods 62 may be fixedly connected to fingers 59 in any desired manner, the preferred embodiment contemplates annular flanges 63 (FIGS. 1 and 3) disposed on rod 62 in end abutting relation to the inner opposed faces of fingers 59 (FIG. 3). Preferably the free ends of fingers 59 are rounded to provide camming surfaces for engaging the entering ends of the protruding wall portions 45 of plugs 39. This assures positive outward camming engagement between the entering plugs 39 and fingers 59' to break the normalling contact between the conductors 32 and 33 of the entered switch barrel and to admit the respective terminals 34 of the entered switch barrel into mating electrical contact with the cooperating terminals 42 of the entered plug 39.

Referring to FIG. 3 and in particular to left barrel 22 of that figure into which the plug 39 of FIG. 1 is disposed to enter, full entry of plug 39 into barrel 22 will cam the left ends of the respective upper and lower shorting rods 62 into the canted dot-dash line position of FIG. 3 thereby breaking the normal through circuit and, in the absence of terminating impedance means, the conductors 32 and 33 of barrel 22 will be picked up on the patch cord and the conductors 32 and 33 of barrel 21 will be open circuited. In this condition of switch 20, the switch will be operative to disconnect the original source equipment and to connect the load equipment through the patch cord and a similar fitting on the opposite end of the patch cord to alternate source equipment.

The invention further contemplates the termination of the circuit from the original source equipment in its proper impedance. This may be accomplished with this switch in either of two ways, namely, through a dummy plug 71 like that shown in FIG. 17 inserted in barrel 21 to engage conductors 32 and 33 with plug conductors 72, 73 terminated internally of the plug through impedance means 74 of proper value or preferably internally of the switch by means of impedance means 75 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Impedance means 75 comprises an insulating block 76 having opposed upwardly and downwardly directed pairs of mounting ears 77 (FIG. 2) perforated to fixedly support block 76 between the midportions of pivot rods 47 and upper and lower plate contactors 78 connected to an impedance resistor (not shown) housed in block '76 by contact screws 79 at one end. The opposite ends of plate contactors 78 are formed to provide flexible fingers 81 extending rearwardly beyond block 76 (see FIG. 1) into vertically spaced relation above and below upper and lower shorting rods 62 when rods 62 are in their self normalling position contacting conductors 32 and 33 of barrels 21 and 22 as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3 and solid lines in FIG. 2. The impedance means 75 functions to terminate the source and load circuits in their proper impedance upon full entry of a patch plug 39 of this invention or dummy plug without an internal impedance in the opposite barrel in conventional manner. In this connection, the axially protruding wall portion 45 of the inserted patch plug of this invention or dummy plug without impedance means cammingly engages the insulating shorting rod mounting fingers 59 of the entered barrel to swing the associated shorting rod support levers 48-49 or 50-52 around the respective axes of pivot rods 47 from their normally biased positions to lift the adjacent ends of shorting rods 47 out of contact with the conductors of the entered barrel to the canted position (dot-dash line position of FIG. 2) and into engagement with the adjacently related contact fingers 81 of contactor plates 78. In this canted position of shorting rods 47, the conductors 32-33 of the entered barrel are picked up by the conductors of the entered plug and the conductors 32-33 of the other barrel are terminated through the impedance in proper impedance. The circuit of the entered barrel picked up by a patch cord plug is simultaneously conventionally connected by the patch cord to effect a re-routing of the picked up circuit or substitution of alternate source or load equipment. The altered switch circuits are schematically shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 as compared to the normal switch circuits of FIG. 6. If a single barrel is entered, the switch circuitry will be as shown in FIG. 7 when barrel 22 is entered with a standard patch plug of this invention and, in the use of a dummy plug without impedance means, the switch circuit of barrel 22 will merely be opened within the plug rather than carried through to the patch cord.

When both barrels are entered with either a standard patch plug of this invention or a dummy plug without impedance means, the switch circuits of both barrels will be opened without termination of either circuit in impedance 75. If the standard patch plug 39 of this invention is entered in both barrels, the conductors 32-33 of each barrel are picked up by the patch plug cord to effect a rerouting of the picked up circuit or substitution of alternate source or load equipment. If dummy plugs without impedance means is entered in both barrels, the conductors 32-33 of both barrels will merely be opened within the plugs rather than carried through by the plugs and neither set of conductors will be terminated.

To secure full advantage of switch 20 of this invention, the preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates the provision of twin-axial, two-pin dummy plugs without impedance means (plug 71 of FIG. 17 omitting impedance means 74), twin-axial, two-pin dummy plugs with impedance means (FIG. 17), patch cords provided at its opposite ends with standard twin-axial, twopin patch plugs 39 of this invention (FIGS. 4, 5 and 17), patch cords provided, at one end with a twin-axial, twopin test probe 41 of this invention and at its other end with a twin-axial Polon connector 85 (FIGS. 10, 11 and 14), patch cords provided at its opposite ends with a twin-axial, two-pin test probe 41 of this invention and its other end with a standard twin-axial, two-pin patch plug 39 of this invention (FIG. 12), patch cords provided at its opposite ends with a twin-axial, two-pin test probe 41 of this invention and a twin-axial concentric-tri-axial connector 86 (FIGS. 11, 13 and 14), patch cords provided at its opposite ends with twin-axial, two-pin test probes 41 of this invention (FIGS. 11 and 15), and a transition adapter 87 providing a twin-axial, two-pin configuration at one end and a twin-axial Polon connector configuration at its other end (FIGS. l1, l4 and 18). Since the twin-axial Polon connector 85 and twin-axial concentric-tri-axial connector 86 are of conventional well known construction and merely adapt the conventional twin-axial cable of the patch cords for connection to multi-conductor cable fitted with twin-axial concentric or tri-axial plugs, a detailed description of these connectors and transition adaptor 87 is not deemed necessary and will be omitted here.

It is believed sufficient to point out that when the twinaxial test probes 41 are inserted into either or both barrels 21 and 22, the foreshortened annular plug wall terminates forwardly of the insulating fingers 59 of shorting rod support levers 48, 49, 51 and 52 While the protruding parallel probe plug terminals 42 matingly receive the conductors 32-33 of the entered barrels. It follows, therefore, that insertion of test probes 41 does not actuate the shorting rod support levers to break the normal through circuit or terminate the opposite barrel conductors 32-33.

Thus the test probe equipped patch cords serve to permit testing, monitoring, or bridging with the switch of the present invention while the transition adaptor 87 and variously configured patch cord connectors permits the twin-axial, two-pin switch and patch cord system of the preferred embodiment to be employed irrespective of the use of multi-conductor twin-axial or tri-axial cabled source equipment, load equipment, alternate source and load equipment, test equipment, or monitoring equipment.

ALTERNATE EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 16, an alternate form of switch 20a is illustrated. Switch 20a is identical to switch 20 except that the contact configuration at the cable connector end is of twin-axial concentric form providing concentric conductors 32a, 33a within the annular concentric barrels 21 and 22 at cable end 25 and the alignment pins 36 of the preferred form are replaced by three locking pins 89 adapted to receive the conventional twin-axial concentric or tri-axial cable plugs. The transition adaptor 87 of FIG. 18, by reversing the end connected to connector ends 25, is capable of adapting this alternate form of switch 20a for use with twin-axial, two-pin cable plugs where the source and load equipment employs twin-axial cable. Since the internal switch structure and its conductor terminal ends 34 are identical to that of the preferred embodiment, the same patch cords can be used with switch 20a giving it the same versatility as switch 29.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respect as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by letters Patent is:

1. For use with twin-axial and tri-axial electrical cable connected source and load equipment, an electrical switch for development of a patch field comprising first and second longitudinally extending electrically conductive connectors fixedly related in side-by-side spaced relation on a metal mounting plate, said connectors having their adjacently related opposite ends formed to provide full shielded patch cord plug receptacles at one end beyond one face of said mounting plate and full shielded cable plug connections at the other end remotely spaced from said other face of said mounting plate, said first and second connectors each having their side walls axially through aperturcd to provide upper and lower passages providing access therethrough to the interior of said connectors; electrical conductor means including a respective insulating body Within said cable plug connections carrying paired axial conductors the terminal portions of which are formed to provide plug contacts, those at said one end comprising axially protruding, diametrically offset paired male terminal portions extending in axially disposed, adjacent relation to the upper and lower passages of each of said connectors; upper and lower electrical contact means on each of said first and second conductors normally yieldingly biased into engagement with the respective protruding terminal portions of said conductors at said one end to establish a normal through circuit and, when patched, to terminate said patched out conductors; and twin-axial, two-pin patch cord means including plugs insertable in said plug receptacles to engage said terminal portions and condition said switch for selectively testing, monitoring, bridging, re-routing or substituting equipment connected to said cable connections.

2. The electrical switch of claim 1 wherein said paired axial conductors are disposed at opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of their respective connectors with their ends cooperating with said cable connectors being respectively formed as twin-axial, two-pin plug connections disposed to receive and permit angular orientation of the conventional twin-axial, two-pin polarized cable connector plug contacts to assure proper contact engagement between said paired axial conductors.

3. The electrical switch of claim 1 wherein said paired axial conductors comprise respective coaxially arranged sleeve-like conductors, the terminal portions of which cooperating with said cable connectors comprise respective coaxial female connections inset different distances inwardly from the terminal ends of said respective first and second electrically conductive connectors to assure a proper circuit contact engagement between said paired axial conductors and the conventional twin-axial concentric and tri-axial cable connector contacts and are respectively provided with a peripherally disposed locking pin means to cooperate with the bayonet connection slot of conventional twin-axial concentric and tri axiaI cable connectors.

4.The electrical switch of claim 2 wherein said formed connector ends providing said patch cord plug receptacles are each provided with an axially directed slot, said paired twin-axial conductors lie in a common diametrical plane at right angles to said slots and said plugs of said patch cord means includes a peripherally disposed pin dimensioned to slidingly cooperate with the slot of said receptacles to angularly orient said patch cord means for proper contact engagement between said patch cord conductors and said paired electrical conductors, and wherein the terminal portions of said paired axial conductors cooperating with the patch plug conductors comprise conventional cooperating mating male and female twin-axial, two-pin plug contacts.

5. The electrical switch of claim 2 wherein said electrical conductor means comprises respective parallel, rodlike twin-axial conductors of uniform length disposed at opposite sides of the respective longitudinal axis of each of said connectors to define a vertical plane, the said terminal portions of which are respectively formed to provide a reduced diameter male connection and blind bored female connection inset equidistantly inwardly from said one end of said electrically conductive connectors, and the insulating body carrying said paired axial conductors encloses said female connection and terminates at the inner end of said reduced diameter male connection.

6. The electrical switch of claim'3 wherein said paired axial conductors comprise an inner sleeve-like conductor, the said terminal portions at said one end comprising a reduced diameter male plug connection disposed radially outwardly to one side of the longitudinal axis of its associated connector to define with said axis a vertical plane and an enclosing sleeve-like conductor, the said terminal portion at said one end comprising a reduced diameter female connection disposed radially outwardly to the opposite side of said horizontal axis, said male and female connections being inset equidistantly inwardly from said one end of said electrically conductive connectors.

7. The electrical switch of claim 2, together with adapter means, comprising a sleeve member enclosing paired axial conductors, the opposite adjacent related ends of which are respectively formed to provide paired concentric cable connector terminals and paired twin-axial, two-pin patching connector terminals.

8. The electrical switch of claim 2 wherein said switch includes impedance means disposed between said first and second electrically conductive connectors adjacent said other face of said mounting plate and said impedance means comprises an insulating mounting and an impedance resistance the opposite ends of which terminate in axially directed upper and lower contactors disposed in respective planes overhanging in oppositely spaced relation said normally biased upper and lower contact means whereby upon selective insertion of said plugs of said patch cord plug means the normal through circuit will be disrupted and the upper and lower contact means will be shifted to terminate the selected load or source equipment in its proper impedance.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Lancaster 333-9 Lancaster 333-7 Lancaster 339-177 R Giger et a1. 200-153 S Miller 339-177 R Harrison et al. 339-186 R OTHER REFERENCES Trimm Coaxial Bulletin, Bulletin 65, p. 3A, 89 Series, Trim Inc., Libertyville, Ill.

5 DAVIS SMITH, JR., Primary Examiner U.S. CI. X.R.

mien STATES PATENT {)FFIQE QERTWECATE @F RRECTKN Patent No.- 3,714,3 5 Dated January 30, 1973 Inven oharles T. Leverich It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 1, line 42, (numbered 45) change "path" to --patch--.

Col. 3, line 37, change "elevation" to --elevai:io'nal--.

Col. 4, line 73, delete "edges of passages P, in their normally bised position, and insert --edge opening slotsformed in plate 23 and the opposite-.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of July 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHE R,JR. ene Tegtmeyer Attesting Officer ng Commissioner of Patents 

